Everyone on board a civilian aircraft that crashed in north-eastern France on Sunday has been killed, according to French media reports citing rescue services.
The victims included the pilot and two groups of five skydivers each. The aircraft had taken off from Nancy-Essey airfield. Authorities said a wide area around the crash site in Tomblaine had been cordoned off.
Police, firefighters and emergency services were deployed in large numbers to support recovery efforts and help establish the cause of the crash.
The public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation.
‘Grim toll’
In a post on X, France’s Transport Minister, Philippe Tabarot, spoke of a “particularly grim toll.” It is said to be one of the deadliest accidents in general aviation in France.
Tomblaine’s mayor, Hervé Féron, told the newspaper L’Est Républicain that the aircraft crashed near a residential area – just a few dozen metres from the airfield’s runway.
The aircraft involved in the accident was registered in Germany
The president of the regional association of liberal care workers in Meurthe-et-Moselle, said some of the victims may have been self-employed care workers. It appears that a trial skydive had been organized, with both care workers and instructors on board.
According to the president of the national skydiving association, Pierre-Yves Eugène, the aircraft did not belong to the local skydiving club. He told the television channel BFMTV that the aircraft was a Pilatus model with German registration. He emphasized that it was a small aircraft requiring an inspection every two years.
Aircraft crashed vertically
Meanwhile, the prefect of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department also spoke of a possible technical fault. The aircraft “crashed vertically,” Yves Séguy told the broadcaster. There had been no indication of an emergency landing.
The cause of the accident remained unclear, however. The prefect described it as a stroke of luck that the aircraft crashed near residential buildings without killing or injuring anyone else.
Some relatives of the victims were nearby and witnessed the crash. They had been at the scene to accompany the skydivers.